Synthesis of new alkenes is one of the most important aspects in organic synthesis chemistry. Alkenes may serve as primary starting point for preparations of various materials via subsequent transformations, such as Ziegler-Natta polymerization, Wacker oxidation, and hydroformylation.
Today's major obstacle to reveal the full potential of these indispensible transformations may probably come from the cost of starting materials and their preparation. Most of the alkenes employed in above systems are monosubstituted alkenes, such as α-olefins and styrenes, which are produced in metric megatons amount every year at a low cost. Higher substituted olefins are much less available and relatively costly or indirect syntheses are required. As a result, there are huge demands to develop methodologies that lead to higher substituted alkenes.